Report Details

There were more cars than expected at Patterson State Park this rainy Sunday morning. As I headed south to start my mile, I searched for an easy way to cross the heavily flowing Patterson Creek. The two young men riding skimboards in the creek offered me the option to use the skimboard to get across but I decided it was probably better for me to just do a little wading. The tide line closest to the ocean contained dead mole crabs, many rocks, some crab body pieces, kelp and a few sticks. Half way through the mile, I was excited to see a bald eagle flying near the ocean. Other than that, the only birds I saw were some gulls and crows. As I turned around near the Big Stump to head north by the dunes, I observed the water pipe with a very light flow. Close to the dunes, it was nice to see the spring plant growth of the Vetch and Sea Sandwort. One of the dune markers that I regularly check is a path from a HWY 101 pull out that leads to the beach. It winds through the fore dune before a drop off to the beach. Sand has returned to the bottom of this dune making this path more accessible. Last visit, it was quite a bit of a jump to get down to the beach from this path. I snapped a picture of the protruding log that I've been regularly checking. Some sand is also returning to this area below the fore dune. I saw the usual styrofoam pieces in the highest tide line as well as the various trash items laying on the beach or stuck in the sticks near the dunes -  water bottle, straw, plastic bag,  shoe, kid's sand toys and boggie board, food wrapper. There was a fire pit and vertical log structure at the base of the path that leads to the Inn at Sandcastle  Beach Vacasa Rental. As I continued north by the dunes, I snapped a photo of the sandstone bluff and compared it to previous photos of this same bluff. There appears to be new graffiti thanks to Nick or someone fond of them. As I finished the mile, the skimboarders had left the creek and were now enjoying the incoming tide at the foreshore.

Conditions

Temperature: 52 F. Cloud Cover: Rain. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 4.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 11. Number of dogs: 3. Walking or running: 9. Other Activities: Skimboarding - 2.

Vehicles

Cars/trucks parking: 7. RVs/Buses parking: 1.

Notable Wildlife

bald eagle

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Styrofoam.

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All Mile 200 Reports

Showing 8 of 47 reports

Mile 200

March 5, 2024

Theme for today - Trash, Trash and more Trash.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

December 13, 2023

Patterson creek had a heavy flow of water coming down to the ocean this afternoon.

Karen Funk

Mile 200

September 19, 2023

Patterson creek was gently flowing and easy to cross near the ocean.

KFunk

Mile 200

July 8, 2023

A beach brush fire occurred on July 2 around 3 p.

KFunk

Mile 200

June 22, 2023

Beautiful sunny Thursday morning - perfect for walking Mile 200.

KFunk

Mile 200

May 1, 2023

On Saturday, Apr 29, there was a volunteer cleanup event organized for a Girl Scout Gold Award with SOLVE starting a Patterson State Park.

KFunk

Mile 200

January 23, 2023

Although there were only 6 cars parked at Patterson Creek State Park this early Monday morning, I saw quite a few walkers and off leash dogs on the beach.

KFunk

Mile 200

November 3, 2022

There were a few cars in the parking lot in Patterson State Park this cool non-windy Thursday morning.

KFunk